Fall
by KDMOSP
Summary: A serious injury leads for the medical flight team to be called in; nothing goes as planned.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Yes, another JJ gets hurt story, I apologize but this is what I write. For those that say "you put her through so much" um duh. But first, this is a fictional character in a fictional world; JJ does not exist. Please keep that in mind. Also, most of my stories, except sequels, have nothing to do with one another- so while JJ might be abducted in one story, it doesn't mean she was also shot in that story world. Hopefully that makes sense.**

 **So, that being said. Here is another JJ in some kind of danger fic! I had to end this where I did with this chapter because if I didn't the chapter would have been about seven pages long. WAYY too long! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

Aaron Hotchner kept a careful watch out as he continued walking along the winding forest path. He had lost time how long the team had been out looking for Eric Elliot, but judging by the amount of sweat he felt pouring down his shirt and cheeks, it was probably close to thirty minutes. If that.

The Floridian air was not being especially accommodating to the skilled group of profiles and as the day wore on, both the temperature and humidity rose. It was beyond uncomfortable outside; it was downright miserable.

And while he knew he was uncomfortable, he focused his attention elsewhere, in multiple different directions.

The first was finding Eric Elliot and Hotch knew they were close. Well over a dozen tips had poured into the tip line citing Elliot hiding out in the park; all tipsters reporting the same general location. Elliot had been on a tear in northern Florida for the last three years, murdering seventeen people in the last year alone. The local PD had finally had enough and requested the Bureau's help. Within a two days of arriving, Hotch and his team not only had the probable location of the killer, but a name to go with it. Which lead Hotch and his team to exactly where they were now- in the middle of a state park with a large storm quickly approaching.

Not just a storm. It was a hurricane and Hotch wanted nothing more to have Elliot in custody and to be clear out of Florida before Hurricane Beth struck landfall. Beth was a category three storm, significant, dangerous and ready to bare down exactly on their location. It was time to get out of Florida.

He stopped momentarily to guzzle a drink of water and smiled as he saw JJ stop beside him. He shook his head when he noticed she was barely sweating and seemed pretty well acclimated to the horrendous humidity.

JJ and he had gone one way, Morgan and Emily another, Reid and Rossi another. Everyone remained in radio contact, all stayed within the plot of land they were assigned to cover. Five square miles was not too horrible, easily done.

"Just spoke with Alexander." JJ began, "Still no sign of Elliot."

Hotch nodded, "He isn't going to come easily."

JJ shook her head and reached into her pocket, pulling out an energy fruit strip, offering half to Hotch. "It won't kill you." She promised, noting the look in his eyes. "It's organic apples, bananas and pears."

Hotch reached over and took it, thanking himself for parenting with JJ. She had planned ahead, she knew the weather would be hot, knew the climate would be draining and had thought ahead to bring something to briefly chew on before they continued on their search.

"Did you make it yourself?" He asked, placing it on his tongue.

The look on his face caused JJ to laugh. "No, Will did? Is it that bad?"

Hotch shook his head, forcing himself to swallow what he was sure, was rubber. "No. But don't offer me anymore."

They walked in silence for another mile, each using their training to search for clues that they were getting closer to Elliot.

"Hotch." It was Morgan's voice over their radios. "We've got nothing, sun is starting to set. We might need to call it a day."

Hotch nodded in agreement, the last thing he wanted to do was spend the night in the woods. "Alright, we'll meet back.." Hairs stood up on his spine, and every alarm signal began going off in his mind as adrenaline poured into his body.

JJ looked at him puzzled, and turned around, her hand reaching for her gun. She had worked with Hotch long enough to know the look on his face; had seen his hand reaching for his gun and reacted instantly.

"FBI!" Hotch bellowed, pulling his gun just in time to see the 6'8 , 275 pound figure of Elliot ram into JJ's petite frame. She never had a chance as Elliot grabbed her by the standard issue FBI vest, smiled at her and with one swing, tossed the young agent down the side of the steep, rocky hill they were standing on.

Without hesitation, Hotch pulled the trigger, watching as Elliot's body collapsed to the gravel road.

"JJ!" He yelled, stopping only to make sure Elliot had no pulse. "JJ!" He called again, his heart racing as he heard no answer. "Morgan, we are a half a mile south of the 114 trail, Elliot is dead. But JJ is hurt."

Hotch didn't hear anything that was said next, he had conveyed what was important and trusted his team to be able to find the location. His focus was now on getting to JJ and as he overlooked the massive hill, his heart plummeted further.

Rocks and trees littered the steep incline, sharp branches from trees littered the ground, as ant piles rose uninhibited by man. And there, just about sixty feet down, lay his wounded agent.

"JJ, I'm coming." He shouted to her as local police arrived at his side.

"Shit." One of the officers said, upon seeing JJ. "Agent, hold on, we need to be careful of the snakes."

Hotch heard none of it and began carefully, but quickly skidding down the hill. It took much more effort than he would have imagine, but somehow he maintained his balance.

"JJ!" He shouted, finally arriving at her side. He sat down by her side, looking her over, and pressing his fingers to her neck. At his touch, JJ moved and Hotch took a deep breath. "JJ, open your eyes." He commanded and she did just that.

"Don't move, JJ." He ordered, seeing her blue eyes finally focus on him. She was breathing, she was semi-conscious, and she was alive. Everything else could be taken care of; she was injured, Hotch had seen that as soon as he had laid eyes on her, but it didn't appear that any of her injuries that he could see, were immediately life threating.

Her leg however, was a completely different story. It was undoubtedly broken and the sight of the injury itself was nauseating; the pain must be absolutely agonizing. And it seemed as if JJ's brain had finally recognized it, that something was very wrong with her body. Immediately, she tried to sit up, but Hotch gently but firmly pressed her back down.

"JJ, look at me." He ordered, trying to command her attention; she did not need to see the condition of her leg, the unnatural angle of it, and the bone protruding from the skin. "JJ," He called again, coming very close to her face, wiping the blood away from her forehead.

"Hotch…" He could hear the pain in her voice, the confusion.

"You're going to be okay, just took a fall." He explained, grabbing his water bottle and tilting it to her lips as he caught of a glimpse of Morgan and two officers coming towards them. But as Hotch looked back at JJ's leg, another thought hit him.

There was no way JJ could walk out of here, and no way could an ambulance reach her. The paramedics could, but she couldn't be evacuated from where she was.

Keeping one hand firmly holding JJ down, Hotch spoke into the mic. "Garcia, we are going to need a medivac."


	2. Fire

**AN: Thanks for reading! There is some language in this chapter!**

Margo sat in the small, home like office, fixated on the weather report.

"Shit." She muttered to herself, bringing her coffee to her lips. As the pilot for one of the cities medivac choppers, the sight of an approaching hurricane meant a few things. Mostly, it meant she would be grounded for the next few days.

It meant she may get one more flight in before the storm hit. And as luck would have it, her radio sounded, summoning her and her team to the bird.

"Boys!" She hollered, grabbing her needed gear. "We got one, let's fly."

In less than two minutes, Margo had taken her seat and was warming up her trusted friend. She had spent years with the company, flying countless rescue missions, navigating terrain that some of her male counterparts feared. She was one of the best and she knew it.

And deep down inside, Margo also knew this would be her last flight; her retirement party was scheduled for the next day. After thirty seven years in the field, this would be her last patient; and from all accounts she had heard, this looked like it would be a challenging rescue. Good.

"What's up momma?" Robert Kaleong, "Kale", questioned as he took his seat behind Margo, using the title that he had affectionately bestowed upon her just eight short months ago on his first shift.

"Where's Bart?" Margo shot back. "Vic doesn't have time to wait for his antics."

"Grabbing his gear," Kale replied, double checking his. The last thing he wanted to do was to tick off Margo; and one sure fire way to accomplish that was to leave some much needed gear or medical necessities behind.

"He's got ten seconds." Margo snapped, angry that the bird was warm, and that their services were needed and that the second medic needed for the flight was just now rushing to him. She had done it before, seen either Bart or Kale rushing towards the chopper, but they had been too late and she had left without them. They knew she was capable of it, and that she would do it…

"Wait boss, I'm here!" Bart was running as fast as he could, causing both Margo and Kale to laugh.

"Do it." Kale said, knowing Margo would know exactly what he was asking. And as expected, Margo slowly lifted the chopper into the air, mere feet but enough to cause the chunky paramedic to run just a bit faster and dive into the cabin.

"Y'all… are… assholes." He breathed, his heavy Texan accent coming out with each word as he pulled himself into the designated seat.

"Thirty three year old female, federal agent actually. Caller describes that she was tossed down a steep hill by their now deceased suspect. Unconscious for a brief period of time, caller estimates maybe three to four minutes; open fracture to the left femur." Margo paused for a moment. "Ground medics cannot get her out, we will have to get her in the basket."

Kale and Bart nodded, well trained and accustomed to rescues requiring them to repeal down. Both men had been medics in the military in their past lives and had bonded well over their war stories; rescuing a conscious woman off a steep hill was a walk in the park.

Ten minutes later, Bart found himself staying in the basket, as Kale walked over to the small crowd of people.

"Anna." Kale nodded at one of the medics already on the scene.

"Kale." She replied, not interested in engaging in conversation. "Agent Jareau," Anna focused her attention back to the woman now lying strapped to a backboard, her leg properly stabilized, and her head and neck secured. "Kale here is going to be the medic to escort you to the hospital. I will give him the lecture on treating you nicely." She winked down at JJ who offered a small smile in return.

It was blatantly obvious to everyone, especially the medics, the amount of pain she was in. "Worried about a head injury." Anna began, seemingly reading Kale's mind. "Doc wouldn't authorize us to dispense any meds; the fall was about fourteen feet and she has a nasty laceration on the base of her skull."

Kale nodded; it sucked for the young woman. She couldn't get any sort of pain medications until the doctor cleared her head injury. He would need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. Thankfully, the helicopter could get the injured agent to the trauma hospital in just seven minutes.

"Hi Agent Jareau." Kale bent down, ready to lift the agent. "Don't worry, we will have you to the hospital in just a few minutes, then you can have all the pain medicine you will need."

"Thank you." JJ spoke softly, trying her best to focus on something else then the pain. Before any of the medics had arrived, Hotch, Morgan and Reid had worked to quickly stabilize the injury; the pain so intense, JJ had wished herself into unconsciousness. It didn't happen. A few tears had spilled from her eyes, Morgan had quickly wiped them away knowing she would hate for anyone else to see them.

And then Anna had arrived, and JJ thanked God that someone would be alleviating the pain. Until Anna had told her she simply could not do it, that the head injury was taking precedence.

She wasn't sure how long ago that was, but now JJ forced herself to take a deep breath, the chopper had arrived, and she would be rushed to help. And the moment she felt herself being lifted, she allowed herself to try and relax; the pain was not relenting but it would have to end soon.

"Agent…" Kale began as he and Anna along with Morgan and Hotch carried the backboard towards the waiting basket with Bart ready.

"JJ." JJ made contact with him. "My name is JJ." She was so uncomfortable and needed to readjust herself, but she was restrained so securely, it made it impossible.

"JJ. I know you are uncomfortable, I will see if I can help you adjust just a tiny bit once we get in the air. Does that sound okay?" Kale smiled down at her, noticing she was shivering in the warm, humid air. "We will also get you a warm blanket." He smiled, repositioning himself so that could hand JJ over to Bart.

Hotch watched as Kale, Anna and Bart seemed to work as one, making sure JJ was placed into the basket. He didn't like it, he didn't like that his injured agent would be pulled into a hovering helicopter by a strong tether. And she would be going without him; without Morgan or Reid.

And she would be fine.

"What hospital?" Hotch turned to Anna.

"St. Edwards." She said, making sure JJ was secure.

Hotch nodded and walked up to JJ, taking his place next to Morgan. "How are you feeling?" He asked concerned. Hotch reached down and took her hand, squeezing it.

"Where is he?" JJ asked and Hotch smiled.

"On the pavement." He paused. "We will see you at the hospital. I have your weapon."

"Thanks Hotch." She said softly, as Hotch released her hand and stepped back, giving Kale and Bart a nod.

"Alright JJ, we are just going on a ride. It might get windy, but we have a wonderful pilot." Kale reassured her, concern growing as her shaking increased. All she could do was nod.

"Are you cold?"

"I am freezing." JJ confirmed as she felt the basket rocking in the wind as the helicopter guided the basket through the trees. JJ knew the routine, she had seen it before, just never experienced it. Once the basket had cleared the trees, she would be warm, safe and on her way to the hospital.

Kale nodded. "We will be in the chopper soon, don't…" He was going to say don't worry, but a sudden noise caught his attention. It was not a noise he had ever heard before and when he looked up, he knew something was going horribly wrong.

"Margo?" He called, as Bart looked on in horror.

"Kale! I am losing power." Margo's voice was panicked, something he had never heard before.

"Margo, do something!" The chopper was no longer flying straight, instead it seemed to be rocking back and forth, causing the line and basket to move with it. And then he saw it, at the same time Bart did. Flames were blasting out from the cabin, the damn bird was on fire.

"Shit!" Kale screamed, looking down at his patient. He knew it, Bart knew it.. they didn't have much of a choice.

And then, Margo, stepped in just one more time. Somehow, she briefly regained control of the chopper, coming closer to the ground.

"Margo, don't!" Kale screamed into the radio, knowing what she was preparing to do.

"I am proud of my boys, keep her alive." Margo's voice came over the radio and then, without any further warning, the cable connecting the basket to the chopper was cut, and Bart, Kale and JJ were sent tumbling to the ground.

The last thing Kale saw before he lost consciousness was the helicopter burst into flames and explode into thousands of pieces.


	3. Crash

**AN: Thanks for your reviews!**

JJ finally felt as if the tremendous pain she was experiencing, was coming to an end. The helicopter ride couldn't possibly last too long and once she arrived in the emergency room, she hoped the staff would make a quick assessment and be able to administer something. Anything to dull the pain thundering through her body.

The medics had been nothing short of wonderful, and as Kale secured her into the basket, JJ felt her eyelids beginning to droop; she was exhausted. The pain would certainly keep her awake, but she figured closing her eyes may help her body relax.

"Oh no, no no." Suddenly, she felt a gentle but stern hand shaking her shoulders and her eyes shot open, meeting the deep green eyes of Kale. "Sorry agent, you have to stay awake for me." He explained.

She knew why, of course she knew why… but she was so tired, and suddenly, the pain started ebbing away providing some much needed relief. It was as if her body could finally take a deep breath, and she closed her eyes again, sleep pulling her further and further away from Kale's voice.

The last thing she heard before blackness engulfed her was the sounded of screaming. She never felt the fall.

Hotch watched in silent horror, Morgan, Reid, Rossi and Emily standing next to him. They had been powerless before, but this was something entirely different. They were unable to do absolutely anything, until the thing they were dreading most occurred.

Nobody said a word as the helicopter struggled to stay airborne, nobody breathed when they watched the skilled pilot lower the helicopter.. it was Reid who picked up why.

"They are going to cut the line." He breathed and instantly, everyone's attention snapped to him. "The pilot, the pilot has a release mechanism for the basket. Should something go wrong with the helicopter, the pilot can release the tether and basket…"

"That has to be at least fifty feet." Rossi said, looking at the chopper.

Reid nodded, "The pilot is trying to get them closer to the ground."

And then, just as Reid had explained, the team watched in horror as the tether holding the basket, holding their friend to the rescue craft was cut loose and sent plunging to the ground. By the time the chopper burst into flames and exploded, the skilled group of profilers had already taken off running. Ready to start the search and rescue for the medics and their friend.

It was Kale who first returned to consciousness, just minutes after the basket had collided with the hard wooded ground. He had been thrown feet away but as he checked over himself, he sighed in relief. Besides the cuts and bruises and the obviously broken finger, Kale did not see any serious injuries lining his body.

It was a damn miracle.

Bart was next to him, just now starting to regain consciousness. Kale had looked him over immediately and like himself, Bart appeared to have minimal injuries.

It wasn't himself or Bart that Kale was concerned about; it was their patient, and as he slowly climbed to his feet, the magnitude of the situation began to weigh on the experienced medic. The temperature outside was in the high eighties, the humidity probably closer to the mid-nineties and the wind was starting to pick up as the skies began to darken.

"Kale?" It was Bart, and Kale immediately turned his attention to his partner who had slowly sat up.

"Chopper crashed." Kale knew how Bart wanted information, no fluff, and no nonsense. Bart nodded and put his head into his hands taking in a few deep breaths.

"How is she?" He grunted, slowly standing up.

"I'm trying to find her, she cannot be too far away." Kale replied, looking around for the red basket.

Bart nodded in agreement and began looking around the wooded floor; less than thirty seconds later, Bart spotted the basket. "Kale, I got her!" He hollered, rushing as fast as his body would allow him.

He doubted that the woman was alive; it was a bloody miracle that he and Kale had survived the crash, and they hadn't been injured. But when he reached the basket, not only did he find her still trapped inside, but to his surprise, she was still breathing.

"'Ma'am? Can you hear me?" He asked, seeing her eyes closed. She remained still, not moving, not responding. But she had a pulse, and that was better than expected.

"How is she?" Kale asked, arriving at Bart's side.

"I am sure she has had some better days, but she is breathing." He reached over and knuckled his hands before reaching over and suddenly stopping. "Damn." A sternal rub would have been their next go to, but the black Kevlar vest she was wearing prevented any of that.

"It's probably better for her now, hopefully she cannot feel anything." Kale responded, seeing the predicament. "Good thing she is a FBI agent, her team will have the entire damn military scouting for us in a few hours."

Bart looked at him. "Hours are all we have, Beth picked up a shit ton of speed; landfall is expected in eight hours." He paused. "That's why I was late meeting you for the call; I was watching the reports. It was not looking good then; now- now it's all hell is about to break out."

Kale's eyes went wide, "Eight? Shit…" He looked around, he had never seen the remote area of the woods they had found themselves in; in fact, it looked like no human had touched the place in centuries.

"Margo is gone; that was one of the last bird's we had, everything else has been relocated for the storm. The FBI will use the GPS from Margo to locate the wreckage; they won't know we aren't near her for hours afterwards." The situation continued to get more desperate.

"And." Kale glanced back at JJ.

"And, we have a wounded federal agent in our care. We have no food or water, and with her bone sticking out like that…"

Kale licked his lips. "Infection has already set in…"


	4. Fever

**AN: Sorry for the delayed update, I'm so, so sick!**

Hotch stood at the trail head, staring into the wooded area. His heart was sinking, there was so much that could have... No, that had already gone wrong. JJ suffering a horrible injury, the ground medics unable to reach her, the chopper.. And then, when he he thought it was all over, and that JJ had been transferred into the capable hands of the medics, the damn chopper had caught fire and crashed. He had very little hope that anyone on board the helicopter had survived; but he knew JJ and the two medics had not been under that chopper when it had plummeted from the sky.

And that was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that they would not be trapped under the bird, a curse that they had literately fallen from a burning death trap. He was honestly not even sure any of them could have survived the fall. And deep down, he seriously doubted it.

The two medics had a better chance of surviving then JJ; and he only hoped they were in decent shape; at least decent enough shape to keep JJ alive until rescue reached them.

And they were running out of time. It was Reid who had brought up that JJ had a large open wound in her leg, and the risk of infection was astronomical, it was Morgan who reminded him of the approaching hurricane, and Garcia who delivered the last blow.

There were no helicopters available to search from the air; there was nothing to search from the air; everything would have to be done on foot, or horse back.

"What about their phones, can we get a lock on anyone?" Emily had asked, as they all stood over a map of the wooded area.

"I.. I've tried Em, but wherever they are, they are too far deep. I cannot get anything." Garica's voice sounded defeated, she was doing very everything she could and it was nowhere near enough.

For a few moments, the team stood, silent. It was Hotch who broke it, addressing the elephant in the room. "We all know what we are facing; we have very limited time to get to them, to find them." His voice was stoic.

But Reid interrupted him. "We can't leave her, Hotch." He paused. "The hurricane is approaching, we have six hours before it makes landfall."

Hotch looked at him, understanding. "We aren't going to leave her, Reid." He hesitated for a moment. "We just need to get to her before the storm hits."

Kale and Bart sat on the ground, checking in on their charge every few moments.

"Anything?" Bart asked, seeing Kale checking in on JJ.

"Nothing, she is still out." Kale responded, reaching over and lifting JJ's eyelids. "Out cold."

Bart nodded. "Not a good sign man." He padded his pockets and smiled. He still had his penlight and some medical essentials in his pocket. Scissors, and tape mostly, but things that could come in handy later.

"No; nothing we can do about it though." He paused, looking back to Bart and taking a deep breath. "I know it's risky, but we have to get that vest off her."

Bart nodded, already knowing. "I know." It was a horrible predicament to be in; they had no way to prove that she did not have a head or neck injury- yet they had to move her. If she were to stop breathing, they needed access for CPR.. With her vest on, CPR would be impossible.

"Give her another five minutes, if she doesn't improve, we will do it. I'd rather ask her permission before..."

Kale smiled and laughed. "We do it all the time for our female patients."

Bart nodded. "Yes, but most of them are not federal agents." He looked up at the sky. "And I have no doubt that this one can kick our asses, probably blindfolded and with the broken leg."

Kale laughed again, looking back at JJ. "C'mon hon, open your eyes." He tried. Nothing happened and he bit his lip, almost drawing blood. He rubbed his chin and looked back down... JJ's cheeks had gone from pale to bright red.

A fever was already setting in, and as he touched her skin the first raindrops began to fall.


End file.
